• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

This is a repository copy of Introduction: Strange Meetings. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/129894/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Pender, EE (2018) Introduction: Strange Meetings. Classical Receptions Journal, 10 (4). pp. 333-355. ISSN 1759-5134 https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/cly019 © 2018, The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Classical Receptions Journal. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ 1 CLASSICS AND CLASSICISTS IN WORLD WAR ONE INTRODUCTION STRANGE MEETINGS This collaborative study of the uses of Classics in World War One (1914-18) explores the complexities, tensions and dissensions of thought on the War arising within a very specific cultural community: those using Greek and Roman paradigms as a means to think about the War. Multiple identities and uses of Classics within public and private texts of the period will emerge, reflecting the major cultural shifts of the War period. The cultural span is limited mainly to Britain and Germany, with briefer reflections also on Ireland, South Africa, and the USA. In the societies of these two principal belligerents classical traditions in education were particularly prominent and well-regarded, and are often seen as neatly aligned with their respective imperial structures and political aspirations. However, as this collection of papers will demonstrate, in this traumatic period Classics is drawn upon to articulate and propose many divergent positions in response to the War, including those of dissent. THE CENTENARY At the centenary of the First World War, the magnitude of the historical events of the conflict, its legacies and continuing emotional resonances are evident. Governments and public bodies across the world are organising major services of remembrance and reconciliation through the years of 2014-18. Public participation and interest continues on an unexpected scale, with millions of people attending international, national and local commemorations. The military, civic groups, charities, arts organisations and the educational sector are reflecting on their own 2 communities’ involvement and experiences of World War One. In the UK, in 2014 particularly, the broadcasting schedules of the BBC and independent media were dominated by WWI documentaries, drama and commentaries. This volume arises from the shared view that since Classics was a significant feature within the cultural dynamics of the War, its communities and contributions therefore merit attention as part of the Centenary.1 It is surprising that no other group of classical researchers has yet tackled the use of the ancient world as a distinctive approach to this important historical period. This Special Issue will therefore fill a notable gap, making new contributions to scholarship and challenging banalities on how to inform a wider public about the cultures of WWI. The volume results from opportunities at this historical landmark for scholarship to move beyond the period of oral testimony and so re-examine issues freed from concern with the appropriate sensitivities of individuals and families directly affected by the war. At the distance of one hundred years the need to avoid the perception of denigrating the personal experiences and sacrifices of people in the war, especially those of close relatives, while still important is less intense. For the Centenary the Heritage Lottery Fund in Britain has to date funded over 1,000 community projects run by social and educational groups.2 One public artwork in particular has come to represent the determination to remember and pay tribute to the lives lost in the unprecedented horror of the first global conflict. ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Blood’,3 the red poppies memorial unveiled in July 2014, drew over five million visitors to the Tower of 1 I owe special thanks to Lorna Hardwick for guidance and generously sharing her expertise throughout this project, and to Angie Hobbs and Miranda Hickman who offered encouragement and invaluable ideas at key stages. I am grateful for the work of the CRJ Editor-in-Chief and editorial team, for useful critique from the anonymous reviewer and research assistance from Dylan Bage. Generous funds for the associated conferences at the University of Leeds were provided by the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, The White Rose University Consortium, and The Gilbert Murray Trust. 2 The main funding stream is ‘First World War: Then and Now’. 3 Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, consisting of 888,246 ceramic poppies to represent the military fatalities of British and colonial troops during the war. 3 London and its national tour continues to attract hundreds of thousands of people to each of its local installations. The red poppy of the British Legion is ubiquitous at public services and the white poppy of the peace movement is again becoming a familiar symbol of remembrance. The Centenary is an opportunity to promote civic identities, with recognition of alternative voices in different independent traditions and communities. The Peace Pledge Union’s project ‘Remembering the Men Who Said No: Conscientious Objectors 1916-19’ recognises the courage of the 20,000 men who refused conscription into the British Army following the passing of the Military Service Act in March 1916. In Ireland, the Centenary of the 2016 Easter Rising – one of the defining moments of the struggle for Irish independence from British rule – was marked with due international participation and attention. As the University of Leeds rededicated its Brotherton War Memorial in 2014,4 amongst the poppy wreaths a banner display expressed the aims of its own commemorative research project, ‘Legacies of War 1914-18/2014-18’: It is right that the Centenary period is a time to remember those who died, and the devastation and suffering that the First World War – like all wars – left in its wake. But the anniversary is also a valuable opportunity for exploring the many ways in which people’s everyday lives were touched by war. Rather than recycling myths and stereotypes, trying to understand the war in all its variation and complexity is a better way of paying tribute to the men, women and children who lived through it or who died because of it.5 This project of thinking differently about the war and trying to understand it in all its variation and complexity was the impetus for an international conference at Leeds in 2014: ‘Classics and 4 Three names carved on the memorial belong to men from the graduate and student body of Classicists at Leeds in 1914: R. Blease, E.M. Carré, and W.J. Moody. 5 Written by Alison Fell, Professor of French Cultural History and academic lead of ‘Legacies of War’. 4 Classicists in World War One’.6 The preliminary plan was to learn about the lives and individual experiences of Classicists across Europe and the wider world and thus to explore a particular scholarly community responding to the crisis. But initial research showed that another story needed to be told: the presence of classical influences in the thought-worlds not only of professional Classicists but also of those who had studied Greek and Latin and those whose cultural understandings were being shaped by classical forms. Therefore the 2014 conference considered also the significance and meanings of classical reception throughout the war period. From the range and scope of the many submitted abstracts, it became clear that the potential material, with its global reach, would simply be too large. The decision was taken from there to focus mainly on British and German experiences while maintaining a vital international outlook. But even within these limited parameters, further close assessment was clearly needed of some of the many contradictions and contestations emerging within the traditions of classical influences and receptions. To coincide with the 2016 centenaries of the Military Service Act and the Battle of the Somme, a further Legacies of War international conference was devoted to ‘Resistance to War’.7 A panel on ‘Classics and Resistance’ examined a range of responses to both war and peace amongst scholars, poets and political activists drawing on the classical tradition. An additional forum for exchange and debate through the years of the Centenary has been the White Rose Network on ‘Classical Heroism in War and Peace 1914-24’, an interdisciplinary project run between the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York (2013-16). These different meetings, informed by new research in a number of scholarly disciplines, 6 I am very grateful to Edmund Richardson as co-organiser, particularly for his academic guidance, and to all the speakers. Thanks are due also to Eleanor OKell and Richard High for archival research and curating the conference exhibition from the Liddle Collection of WW1 rare books and artefacts, including the Serbian diary of the Classicist E.R.Dodds (Brotherton Special Collections, University of Leeds). 7 Organised by Ingrid Sharp. 5 allowed closer attention to be directed to the various polarities and tensions within the opinions of those who used Classics in the period of the War.

Load more

  30

Copy Link